President Jared Campbell called the meeting to order and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Karla Schuning, led us in a meaningful prayer.
We welcomed several guest (& possible new members) along with Dan Ryan, Assistant Governor / Waldo Club Rotarian.
Club Anniversaries: Leland Shurin, 7 yrs, Oct 17, Lon Lawton, 39 yrs, Oct 23 yr, Terry Harvey, 4 yrs, Oct 25, Yong Kim, 41 yrs, Oct 25, Guy Martin, 30 yrs, Oct 26
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Our Greeters were recent new members!
KC Rotary Club Foundation- comments by Jared Campbell. The Rotary Club’s Youth Camp is our Club 13’s signature project (The Club with a Camp for Kids). The Club’s Foundation subsidizes the Rotary Youth Camp budget every year. October is the time our annual KCRCF campaign. During October, we have a matching dollars available - $1,000 available for $800 for new Fellows. The Matching offer ends October 31st. There are options available that were detailed on the flyers on the table.
[While not directly noted: If you have 2024 annual IRA Required Minimum Distribution {RMD} you can save income taxes by requesting the required annual distribution payment be paid out directly, in whole or part, to a tax qualifying entity {KCRCF for example}. This is more income tax efficient by not recognizing it into income when you are unable to charitably itemize {i.e. take the Standard Deduction}. In the alphabet soup of tax terms these are QCD’s (Qualified Charitable Distribution). The gifted RMD amount (QCD) is not income tax deductible on your Schedule A, but if you use the Standard Deduction, you’re not itemizing via the Schedule A anyway.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Tony Andresen shared the three dates Nove 22nd, Dec 6th & 13 at several locations. More information to follow.
Project CURE service project – upcoming Thursday October 30th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. We need more Rotarians to sign up.
Barbari Dolci noted to us the Lead to Read Bood Fair. Nov 13th, 12:30 to 7:30 pm (300 E 39th Street, KCMO 64111)
HAPPY BUCKS. Several club members had good news to share with their Happy Bucks.
PROGRAM: Jared Campbell introduced our speaker, “Bud” Mackey, a Kansas City resident. Bud shared his thoughts and memories of the life aboard a US Navy destroyer, his being the USS Chevalier. Background: Bud Mackey was born in Columbus, Ohio, attended Saint Paul Academy in St Paul, Minnesota & New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois (just north of Evanston & Chicago, Illinois on Lake Michigan). After graduating from Princeton University in 1961, it was time to join the Navy and see the World. Remember that the oceans cover roughly 71% of the globe and the Pacific Ocean covers 46% of the world oceans or roughly 1/3 of the globe itself. Note in 2025 we are remembering & honoring the US Navy and Marines on their 250th anniversary.
After completing his Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, Bud served on a West Coast destroyer, “home ported” in San Diego, California. From May till November 1963, his ship, the USS Chevalier, was deployed to the western Pacific Ocean and specifically the Gulf of Tonkin. (That portion of the South China Sea, located off the coast northern Vietnam – remember this was in the early 1960’s.) We were just past the Cuban Missile Crisis. While we had 15,000 military advisors in southeast Asia & South Vietnam, we weren’t yet fully engaged in the Vietnam.
Through photographs and an extended video (“home movies” originally Super 8 converted to CD and later to compressed format) taken aboard the Chevalier, we got extended up-close glimpses of life and some daily activities aboard a USS Navy destroyer as well more detailed view of the various areas of the destroyer itself. It was interesting to see how personnel, mail and supplies were transferred between ships. The carrier group was it’s own ecosystem with replenishment ship and a repair ship. Mail was delivered to individual ships from a carrier’s helicopter. We saw ammunition being carried by hand with the shells weighing 58 pounds and the powder another 28 pounds. At that time at sea, a boatswain’s mate would use a sextant to study the stars for navigation.
For 3 years in the early 1960’s, the USS Chevalier was home to Bud. Bud’s “home”, the USS Chevalier, was roughly a football field in length and the football endzone in width. In maritime warfare, a US Navy destroyer’s mission was to protect an aircraft carrier and clear its way. Humorously destroyers were referred to as “tin cans” because of the relative thin armor siding. Destroyers had to be careful about being in front of an air craft carrier. At least one unlucky destroyer was cut in half by an air craft carrier and sank instantly with its crewmen. The destroyers provided protection from submarines. Back in the early 1960’s, submarines (pre nuclear powered) were slower and had to surface more often.
During this period of the early 1960’s, the USS Chevalier and 12 or 13 other destroyers patrolled the Gulf of Tonkin area gathering intelligence information. Later (more precisely 1964) one destroyer was alleged to have been attacked by North Vietnam Navy ships, which became the basis for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution leading the USA formally entering into the Vietnam War. A war that everyone wants to forgets with roughly 58,000 U.S. service men killed, 150,000 wounded and 21,000 permanently disabled. There was a brief Q & A session thereafter.
UPCOMING EVENTS: BRING A GUEST! (in addition to the above)
Oct 23rd - 4th Thursday “World Polio Day” - Social Meeting at *Larks KC (*1527 W. 9th Street, KCMO 64101-1107; in the West Bottoms)
Oct 30th - Project Cure (our October service project, 5 to 7 pm)
Nov 6th - Kai Guo, Kansas City Chinese American Association
Nov 6th - The Program Committee meets – so we welcome any suggestions for speakers
Jared Campbell wrapped up the meeting with an Act of Kindness suggestion and the Four Way Test.
[as an ongoing scrivener’s note: our local Club 13 Rotary organization is comprised of at least three interrelated groups (like a three-legged stool), each with its own separate board, officers & primary focus. KCRClub 13 comprised of various committees and weekly luncheon meetings with speakers; KCRCFoundation primarily focused on financially supporting the Club 13’s Rotary Youth Camp; and the Rotary Youth Camp*, near Lake Jacomo, at 22310 NE Colbern Road, in Lee’s Summit, MO 64086] (* Rotary’s oldest continuous ongoing project in the world!)
As a separate note - a CALL FOR HELP: the Scribe Committee lost its longstanding Committee Chair and resultingly is down to three scribing members. We could use at least one (or more) additional scribe(s) to spread the dates and provide some depth if a particular scribe has a scheduling conflict with work, illness or travel. Please consider joining up or talking to any of three current scribes, Pat Donnelly, Lee Brumitt or John Gillis for more information.
The Rotary Youth Camp has existed for over 100 years and through that time, tens of thousands of children with handicaps and disadvantaged youth have experienced fresh air, playing outdoors and experiencing nature at our beautiful Camp. The Camp staff does a terrific job in managing costs but meeting the yearly budget is a concern. The Kansas City Rotary Club Foundation covers shortfalls in the budget and assures the future of the Camp for the children in our community.
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